As part of the Holy Spirit Roman Catholic Separate Regional School Division, we at Ecole St. Mary School base all aspects of our existence on the Good News of Jesus Christ, and our Catholic faith forms the foundation of all that we do.

Our school community is made up of families of many religious backgrounds and denominations, and we welcome one and all.

CELEBRATIONS

We are fortunate to be able to celebrate and proclaim our faith in many ways throughout each day, and in special gatherings at various times during the year.

Throughout the year, we come together for liturgical celebrations created and presented by various classes with their teachers. Weekly celebrations during the seasons of Advent and Lent help us along the path to Christmas and Easter. In addition, we have celebrations for Thanksgiving; Remembrance Day; and May, the Month of Mary. We open and close the year by taking our entire student body to Mass at St. Patrick's Church, and we wish our Grade Six students Godspeed on their way to junior high school with Mass at the Grade Six Farewell.

Prayer forms an integral part school life The Chapel, centrally located, is a focal point and each classroom has a Prayer Corner as a visible reminder of our need to chat with God as often as we can.

We welcome parents, guardians and guests at our celebrations.

FAITH IN ACTION

Jesus tells us "Love your neighbour as yourself."

We emphasize for our students, at a level appropriate for their understanding, the need to be aware of social justice and to care about those less fortunate than ourselves. We undertake various projects, such as our Adopt-a-Family program at Christmas, our food drives for the Food Banks, and we bring cheer to residents of senior citizens' homes with visits from children happily sharing their musical talents.

The "GOTCHA" program rewards children for being kind and helpful to others, and older children are often seen helping little ones with everything from reading and lunches to shoelaces and band-aids.

SACRAMENTAL PREPARATION

Preparation for the children's first reception of the sacraments of Holy Eucharist and Reconciliation is carried out primarily by the parish together with the parents, with support and encouragement from the school. Parents wishing their children to prepare for these sacraments should contact their parish office for schedules.

The parishes also have RCIC (Rite of Christian Initiation of Children) programs to prepare children for the sacrament of Baptism and / or reception into the Catholic Church.

The Lethbridge Pastoral Zone has arrived at the decision to commence celebrating the Sacrament of Confirmation with children in Grade 6 and up. While Lethbridge and area has customarily confirmed children in Grade 7, it is deemed proper we align ourselves with the directives of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops. This change will nicely coincide with the Catholic School's religion program; and it further affords the priests, deacons and pastoral workers great access to school classroms.

The present school year of 2012-2013 would of course combine Grade 7 Confimation candidates with Grade 6 candidates.